Manmohan appeals for wider consensus on oil price hike

New Delhi, June 2 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said that rising crude oil prices could adversely affect the Indian economy. “We cannot allow the subsidy bill to rise any further,” Singh said and appealed to the political parties to arrive at wider consensus on the pricing issue. He said the Government has not increased the price of kerosene in the past four years and LPG and diesel prices were “only marginally raised”. “Even petrol does not fully reflect the world trend…this situation cannot continue forever,” he said. Crude oil prices stood at $ 127 per barrel in the global markets on Monday. Referring to the high inflation rate, which has passed the eight percent mark, he said the Government is focused on “reversing the recent surge in the headline inflation rate”. Wholesale price-based inflation for the week ended May 17 stood at 8.1 per cent, against 7.82 per cent in the previous week. “It has been our endeavour to tame inflationary expectations without hurting the rhythm of the growth process and also to protect the weaker sections against rising prices,” he said. Expressing satisfaction over the measures taken by the Government, the Prime Minister said “mix policies we have adopted will yield results once the full impact of normal monsoon is felt.”(ANI)